Analysis Of The Devil's Arithmetic

The Holocaust was one of the most devastating events to happen to us a world. On an ordinary day 1,000 people would be plucked from their everyday lives in ghettos. Over 30,000 Jewish people were arrested on Kristallnacht and taken to concentration camps. According to one source, “Over eleven million people were killed and about six million of them happened to be Jews” (“11 Facts”). Producing movies based around the Holocaust is a very controversial topic. There is the ever prominent argument on wheatear or not Holocaust based films can help us understand the different aspects of its reality.

We are daunted by the idea that our movies in America are not going to be as successful as we hope. With that being said, many movies are made based around the same topic. According to one article, “Hollywood has made

movie after movie based on the Holocaust and people are just getting the idolized version of the actual Holocaust and not what it really was” (“Should Hollywood”). It makes us wonder whether or not we are getting an accurate portrayal of the Holocaust. Hollywood is known for glamming things up and not keeping to the accuracy of events. Some people even argue the fact that, “The Holocaust was a horrifying event and we must remember it for what it was. For this to happen Hollywood must stop making and producing these movies” (“Should Hollywood”). A multitude of movies have been made based around the topic of the Holocaust and the majority of these movies do in fact give an accurate portrayal.
One of the most renowned Holocaust movies to date is “Schindler’s List”. This drama by Steven Spielberg is an enticing film based off of ones man’s love of photography. In the movie, ““Raimund Titsch, an Austrian Catholic who managed a uniform factory within the Plaszow labor camp in Poland, surreptitiously took pictures of what he saw” (Maslin). Titsch managed to take photos of the harsh working conditions that many campers faced while they were alive in concentration camps. It was said that, “He was fearful of what he saw and did not want it published so he sealed the film in a steel box that would lay untouched for over 20 years” (Maslin). The reality of the Holocaust was ever prominent when the film was released. This vivid film left viewers wanting to know more about the victims of the tragic Holocaust.
It is an unfortunate fact that children had to suffer through the harsh realities of the Holocaust. Many were left abandoned in concentration camps and were separated from their families. Many children around the world did not understand what was happening during the Holocaust. Fortunately for us the movie “The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas” was produced for the whole world to see. This film gave a realistic point of view on how children perceived the Holocaust. It is said about the film that it, “…not only depicts the tragic effects of prejudice, but it offers a poignant look at the evil that humans are capable of apart from Christ’s redemption” (Elliot). Humans are capable of much more heartache than we can ever imagine and the evil that we have induced into other humans is tragic. In the film, “The boy's inability to comprehend prejudice and killing, and his instinctive, uncomplicated ability to see Jews as real human beings starkly contrast Nazi cruelty, brightly illuminating the viciousness and irrationality of the bloodshed” (“The Boy”). The children that grew up during the Holocaust understood that something bad was happening, but did not fully understand the severity of it all. They knew that there was a person that wanted to kill other people and that was the extent of it all. Their innocence throughout the Holocaust, and this movie, breaks our hearts in ways that we will never fully understand.
Teenagers are very curious creatures, especially when it comes to the brutality of the Holocaust.

Hollywood was able to release a movie named “The Devil’s Arithmetic” that is centered on teens during the Holocaust. Producers did not hold back when producing this film as it has been said, “Little is done to blunt the horrid edges of the historical truths” (Applebome). Many horrific images are seen throughout the film. During the making of the movie it was said about the set, “The camp interiors are evoked in dark, claustrophobic tones that vividly recreate the famous photographs of emaciated survivors, all eyes and hollowed-out faces, crammed into wooden cribs” (Applebome). The set of “The Devil’s Arithmetic” is so realistic that it is haunting to past officers of the concentration camps. Conditions within the concentration camps were not ideal for many of its prisoners. The most ingenious points of the film is described as, “…a subplot involving a pregnant woman who attempts to hide her condition from the Nazis” (Kronke). This film was able to give accurate descriptions of how the different prisoners lives were and how hard it was to hide their deadly

secrets.
We must not forget that officers of the Holocaust were put on trial after the tragic world changing event. Many officers worked at concentrations camps as their job, knowing that if they did not they would die. The film “Judgment at Nuremburg” is a drama by Stanley Kramer that shows how many of these officers were effected after the Holocaust. This film was based around, “…how much responsibility and guilt the individual must bear for crimes committed or condoned by him on the order and in the interest of the state” (Crowther). Guilt has been carried on for decades after the actual event of the Holocaust and justice will always find its way to shine through. The film “Judgment at Nuremburg” was a very controversial film to make with many critics wanting to have their input on it. Director Stanley Kramer was being asked questions such as, “…how could I, an American, try to rekindle German guilt?” (Judgment). Stanley Kramer was said to be, “…more interested in the drama of the trials, such as the complex moral questions that are raised by the lawyers, or the emotional witnesses who tell their stories on the stand” (Lisi). Mr. Kramer was more into how people were emotionally attached to the Holocaust and how past officers cope with what had occurred.
Over the course of history, Hollywood has made a multitude of films based around the Holocaust and how they are depict the horrid event. The reality of it all is understood through the films of “Schindler’s List”, “The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas”, “The Devil’s Arithmetic”, and “Judgment at Nuremburg”. These films have been directed towards different age groups so the understanding of the ghastly Holocaust. Hollywood has made it easily accessible for those who want to get a visual of the tragic events that have taken place in the concentration camps. Well-structured Holocaust films give us a better and more visual understanding of the Holocaust than books will ever be able to tell.